• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
In an intensified anti-illegal drugs drive, the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) successfully apprehended a High Value Individual and seized P680,000 worth of suspected shabu during a buy-bust operation yesterday in Purok 4, Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City.
The suspect was identified as a 41-year-old unemployed man named ‘Watari,’ a resident of the said barangay.
Police said that they received a report from a confidential informant regarding the suspect’s alleged involvement in illegal drug activities operating in Purok Magsungay and Purok Neptune, Barangay Magsungay, Barangay Singcang-Airport, Barangays 16, 34, and 35, and Barangay Tangub.
Acting on the information, operatives also discovered that the suspect was previously arrested in 2021 and later released in 2025. This prompted operatives to carry out the operation.
During the buy-bust, authorities seized from the suspect’s possession 10 sachets of suspected shabu weighing more or less 100 grams with a standard drug value of P680,000.
The confiscated drug evidence was submitted to the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Forensic Unit for laboratory examination while the suspect remains under police custody and will face charges in violation of RA 9165 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.*
